'The Idol' premiere falls short of 'Euphoria' debut

HBO's new series The Idol opened to an audience of 913,000 viewers, according to Nielsen's measurement of linear viewers on HBO's cable channel combined with Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming data on Max.

In contrast, the premiere of Euphoria in 2019, which was created by Sam Levinson, co-creator of The Idol, drew 1.1 million viewers. This indicates that The Idol is currently 17% behind Levinson's previous show.

However, Euphoria maintained mostly consistent viewership throughout its first season, peaking at 1.2 million viewers for the finale.

If The Idol continues to grow its audience, it could surpass the early performance of Euphoria, but with only one month left in its short five-episode season, time is limited.

It is worth noting that Euphoria benefited from premiering after an episode of Big Little Lies that attracted 2.3 million viewers, while The Idol faced competition from Game 2 of the 2023 NBA Finals.

In comparison to other recent HBO projects without major intellectual property, The Idol has similar viewership numbers to shows like The White Lotus (944,000 premiere viewers in 2021) and "Winning Time" (901,000 premiere viewers in 2022).

The Idol, created by Sam Levinson in collaboration with Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) and Reza Fahim, follows Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), a former pop star striving to reclaim her stardom following a nervous breakdown.

Her path intertwines with Tedros (Tesfaye), a nightclub impresario with a mysterious past. The first two episodes of the series were screened at the Cannes Film Festival, where Levinson expressed his belief that The Idol would be the biggest show of the summer, despite reports of a toxic set.

The cast features Troye Sivan, Dan Levy, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Eli Roth, Hari Nef, Jane Adams, Jennie Ruby Jane, Mike Dean, Moses Sumney, Rachel Sennott, Ramsey, Suzanna Son, and Hank Azaria. All five episodes are directed by Sam Levinson.